73
Metascore
25 reviews · Provided by Metacritic.com
- 88New York Daily NewsJami BernardNew York Daily NewsJami BernardDano is a real find in this daunting role about a teenager's identity crisis. The subject of the movie is dicey but ultimately deeply rewarding.
- 80Los Angeles TimesKevin ThomasLos Angeles TimesKevin ThomasL.I.E. has embraced tragedy, folly, perversity and outrageous dark humor. Like "Happiness" and "American Beauty," it takes an unflinching look at the darker aspects of life in American suburbia.
- 75Miami HeraldRene RodriguezMiami HeraldRene RodriguezA mature, insightful and extremely well-acted study of a boy at a crossroads in his life, and a doomed, tortured man who, consciously or not, longs for some kind of redemption, before it's too late.
- 75Seattle Post-IntelligencerPaula NechakSeattle Post-IntelligencerPaula NechakAn original, well-crafted plea that uses restraint instead of titillation to make a cautionary tale that aches with pathos and power.
- 70Washington PostMichael O'SullivanWashington PostMichael O'SullivanIn a role that challenges our very notion of morality, Cox comes across as both predatory and fatherly, sometimes at once, in an acting turn as astonishing as it is stomach-turning.
- 70Village VoiceJessica WinterVillage VoiceJessica WinterPreposterous enough to entertain.
- 67Austin ChronicleMarrit IngmanAustin ChronicleMarrit IngmanA paradox, balancing the contradictions and ambiguities of its characters and setting with a careful hand that rarely falters, even though the film seems dramatically thin at times.
- 63New York PostLou LumenickNew York PostLou LumenickDepicts the bleak suburban milieu in a manner that avoids exploitation.
- 60SalonCharles TaylorSalonCharles TaylorThough I admire much of what Cuesta does in L.I.E., the film didn't give me much pleasure. I didn't find it unpleasant or repulsive; it's just that I felt he was too much outside the story.
- 50Christian Science MonitorDavid SterrittChristian Science MonitorDavid SterrittPaints a sincere and serious portrait of the seductiveness of evil and the self-destructive nature of depravity.